By Johnny Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
From missing out on the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Final Four, Panathinaikos Aktor and Olympiacos face each other in a best-of-five series to crown the Stoiximan GBL champion.
On Wednesday, players and coaches from both sides opened up about recovering from losing in the Semifinals of the EuroLeague Final Four and focusing on a huge domestic challenge.
“The team must regroup,” confessed the play-caller of the Reds, Giorgos Bartzokas, “One team leaves the Final Four happy, but the other three usually face something like a crisis, big or small. But we have set our sights on the Greek championship, which is very important.”
“The Final Four is over,” underlined the head coach of the Greens, Ergin Ataman, “We are thinking about winning the title, and we need to perform on the court.”
“We have been working nine months for this and we must be solid at home in front of our fans to go up 1-0,” added team captain, Kostas Sloukas.
Game 1 is set to be played in OAKA Altion on Friday.
“Details can make a difference. These details can vary from game to game,” mentioned the captain of Olympiacos, Kostas Papanikolaou.
“It’s difficult to do it after a win. It’s difficult to do it after a loss, but that’s the situation that we are in,” noted Thomas Walkup, “An incredibly stressful weekend, and then we go right into something else that you have to change your mindset.”
Homecourt advantage belongs to the top-seeded and undefeated defending GBL champions.
“It’s the most important. That’s what we focused on the whole season, to have homecourt advantage and play in front of these fans,” said the 32-year-old guard of Panathinaikos, Jerian Grant.